The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 37

[Episode 37, A Cool Sea]

-1185, Mediterranean Sea-

‘Those damn bastards, losing Acre and making me suffer like this.’

Just as the Crusaders were rallying and reorganizing their ranks.

Not long ago, that son of a bitch, Count Joscelin III of Acre, whom I wouldn’t even spare a bite, started a rebellion.

The Ayyubid Sultanate, with its hawk-like eyes, seized the opportunity, pretended to side with Joscelin, and entered Acre without bloodshed.

Then, they executed that bastard Joscelin on charges of ‘treason’ and built an Islamic fortress.

I wondered why a nobleman who believed in the same Christian god would act like this in such times.

According to Godfrey, it’s because if a powerful Crusader lord comes in, there won’t be any meat left in the ‘stew pot’.

‘Of all times, it had to be when the main force of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was focused on Saladin’s army. Saladin’s brother, Saphadin, gobbled it up.’

Anyway, the sea, which I didn’t want, was so boring.

Sitting in a better spot on the ship floating on the vast ocean,

waiting for the enemy fleet to arrive was the only thing to do.

It was so boring that.

The red-bearded Emperor Friedrich said.

“The sea is endless. It’s like my unknowable life.”

I don’t know if his old man tendencies kicked in, but the Emperor was quite noisy.

It seems he had a lot to say.

Tell those things to your son, the King of Germany.

But what can I do?

A lowly prince can’t say such things to the Holy Roman Emperor.

“I see, Your Majesty.”

Just listening to the stories coming out of Grandpa Friedrich’s mouth.

That’s my job.

Anyway, he had already hunted lions in his youth and shown the Prince-Electors the ‘difference in power’.

The volume of that great ‘Emperor’s Biography’ of mine is so long that.

In the 21st century, it would have to be produced as a drama, not a movie.

In a season system.

“John, I envy your youth. If I could return to your age, I think I could complete a true Roman Empire.”

A true Roman Empire, my ass!

What the old Emperor is talking about here is the Roman Empire.

The ancient Roman Empire, where the Eastern and Western powers are all integrated.

“The enemies are coming.”

“Tch, I was in the middle of a serious conversation.”

Oh, enemies!

As expected, they are attacking our important base.

There’s no way the Islamic bastards would stay still.

As expected.

The Islamic bastards brought quite a fleet.

It seems they intend to have an all-out naval battle.

Moreover, they didn’t come with pirate flags like last time.

The Crescent Moon flag.

And the yellow square flag symbolizing the Ayyubid dynasty.

Moreover, even the black square flag.

‘It seems even the Abbasid Islamic Empire has joined.’

I realized once again. Yes, they are not mere pirates.

They are proper Islamic fleets.

If it were the modern era after the Renaissance, the answer would be to fire cannons without asking questions.

But now is the Middle Ages.

That Islamic fleet is trying to lower the morale of our sailors.

“Uaaaaaaagh!”

After letting out a strange scream, they finally started cursing at us.

“There’s that damn John.”

Ah. They’re cursing me first.

Why me!

What did I do wrong that those evil Islamic bastards are cursing me?

Ah… my share in the background of the Crusades is very slight.

“It’s the fleet of treacherous Christians!”

“Allahu Akbar!” [God is the greatest]

“Fire!”

“Everyone, stay focused and concentrate. The naval battle hasn’t even started yet.”

As the admiral of the First Fleet, I had to cool down the excited hearts of the soldiers.

And the wise senior sailors who knew what I meant,

also cautioned their juniors.

In the meantime.

The enemy ship rushed to effective range.

Now really.

The moment of 100x tension has arrived.

Just as we were about to start the decisive battle.

Emperor Friedrich said with a solemn expression.

“Now, Admiral John of the First Fleet. Show me once again your ability to defeat the heretical pirates. Take overall command!”

“… Excuse me?”

So.

Is what I heard correct?

Is this even possible?

All I’ve experienced in medieval battles is beating up bandits and pirates.

And this is only my debut battle?

“Why, are you afraid?”

“That is not the case.”

Actually, I’m very scared.

Having died miserably once, I didn’t want to die like that again.

So how hard did I work to become a safe zone?

Moreover, now.

‘Damn memories of my past life.’

Bad memories of the 21st century suddenly enveloped my head.

Oh, In God We Trust!

Whether he knew my heart or not, Emperor Friedrich stroked my shoulder and said.

“Prince John, I, the Holy Roman Emperor, will take all responsibility for what happens in today’s naval battle.”

‘But his expression is too warm, like a neighborhood grandfather?’

The way he’s asking me to command.

It’s like a father watching his late son’s antics.

But there’s nothing I can do.

Now I’m not the youngest son acting spoiled to my father, Henry II, but the admiral of the Christian First Fleet!

“Blow the trumpets, move the Lord’s fleet.”

I shouted like a roaring lion.

Soon after, the sound of trumpets announcing the start of the operation rang out.

“Fire the arrows!”

I ordered in a loud voice.

“Godfrey, give me the longbow.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Holding a large general,

“Robin, let’s smash the heads of the enemies together.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Stepping forward with my front foot in the opposite direction, bending my body slightly to put all my strength into it.

I pulled the bowstring with all my might.

Robin shot the arrow easily in a simpler posture than me.

-Phew.

-Phew.

The arrows fired by the Crusader archers, including my arrow and Robin’s arrow.

It was fired at the Islamic fleet.

-Phew.

-Phew. The endless firing of arrows was announcing the start of the first naval battle.

“Now is the time. Genoese crossbowmen, fire the crossbows!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Hehe.

Our ship has.

Not only longbowmen.

There are also Genoese crossbowmen hired with expensive money.

-Phew.

From our fleet and the Islamic fleet.

A rain of arrows to kill each other came down.

“Lord.”

“Allah!”

Those who were unlucky enough not to block the falling arrows died.

Of course, we, who shot up the best ‘longbow’ in Europe, killed more enemies than the sloppy Islamic arrows.

‘But you can’t just shoot arrows in a medieval naval battle.’

I sincerely want to just eat and live by shooting arrows on the ship.

But.

I can’t do that.

The number of arrows and archers is limited. And that’s the same for the enemies!

“Get on the deck and kill the damn heretical Christian bastards!”

“Don’t spare the evil heretical Islamic bastards.”

It’s not a surprising reaction.

Yes, to Christians and Muslims, each other is a heretic.

Because to each of them, heretics were beings who could not live under the same sky!

The boarding battle of sailors who board the opponent’s deck.

Or defend their own deck has begun.

The Islamic bastards were trying to approach our flagship’s deck no matter what.

Why?

Ah, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is giving that explanation.

“Hmm… John, it seems they want to capture you and me as prisoners.”

“But is it okay to be so relaxed?”

“I trust you.”

“I trust Greek fire.”

I gave the Byzantine fleet the flag signal to convey to the Eastern Roman Emperor and Isakios Komnenos in advance.

Our Byzantine friends who confirmed our signal with their naked eyes.

-Whoosh.

Spewed out the flamethrower of the Middle Ages.

“It’s Greek fire.”

The Islamic friends aimed for our flagship.

Some ships were roasted to a crisp.

Of course.

“Allahu Akbar.”

“Drown the heretical bastards!”

The naval battle is not over yet.

**

While John was fighting a decisive battle at sea.

Another battle had ended in the Islamic camp near Kerak Castle.

Of course, it was a victory for the Christian army, which had a strategic advantage.

But the Islamic army made the most perfect tactical retreat.

What does this mean? Saladin ran away well!

Still, if there’s anything lucky, it’s that the Ayyubid Sultanate recently ate up the port of Acre.

Anyway, without having time to think about what the higher-ups were saying about Acre and Jerusalem, the Islamic army, which had lost many comrades who fought together, returned to the main camp with gloomy faces.

The situation of the Islamic army led by Saladin was not so good.

The allied forces of Baldwin IV and Prince Richard.

Although they did not take a strong offensive.

They were slowly pressuring Saladin and securing supply routes.

And they were using the Zengi dynasty (a Muslim dynasty in Syria) who hated Saladin to exert influence in Syria.

Saladin, who was good at his job, did his best to fix the bad situation.

But the eyes of the Islamic army were drying up like a desert.

“Treat the wounded!”

“Organize the reusable weapons.”

It was a desperate situation.

The Crusades of the 2nd Crusade were gone.

The 3rd Crusade was truly a group of evil spirits gathered to harass the descendants of Ishmael (Arabs).

The losses were so great that the Islamic army was trembling with fear.

But what allows the Islamic army to endure even in this desperate situation is.

Because there was their support and the hero of Islam, Saladin.

“Everyone worked hard today.”

“No. We were able to retreat safely from the disadvantage thanks to the Sultan’s command.”

“Retreated safely… Allah’s army is retreating. After all, we can’t hide that we are at a disadvantage.”

Unlike before, Saladin had impatience in his kind face.

Because it was difficult to change the unfavorable situation.

The appearance of the 3rd Crusade, as the Westerners say.

It was disadvantageous to the Islamic forces in many ways.

‘I thought the Crusades would only happen after the Kingdom of Jerusalem was destroyed by us.’

Saladin, who had an eye for the future, knew that the Crusades would rise again.

But that was only after the Crusaders completely took away the holy land they were talking about.

The Crusades, in which the Eastern Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire joined forces, were too strong.

And the ‘Caliph’s’ army had not yet come to support.

Saladin, who had to face the Crusaders with a quantitative advantage in troops with a relatively inferior force.

He pondered while looking at a map depicting the Middle Eastern terrain.

What’s important now is to protect both the sea and land supply routes.

‘Henry II’s weakness is that John became the admiral of the Crusader First Fleet. We need to take advantage of this opportunity.’

As Saladin was constantly worrying.

Someone entered Saladin’s camp.

It is Al-Muzaffar Umar, a commander Saladin knows well.

He said.

“Sultan, Allah’s armies are getting tired. Will the Caliph send reinforcements in time?”

Although they are in the same name of Allah.

The Caliph’s forces, who usually checked Saladin’s Egyptian-Syrian forces.

Perhaps the worry that they might condone Saladin’s downfall was on Al-Muzaffar’s face.

But despite the concerns of his subordinates, Saladin said plainly.

“The Caliph has no choice but to help us. It’s a situation where he has to. The Easterners say this is the principle that if there are no lips, the teeth will be cold.”

Right then.

“Sultan, the Caliph has sent a letter.”

The Islamic Empire responded to Saladin’s response.

**

The Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Crusades.

The Allied Crusades.

Once, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, which had conflicts and discord, joined forces to form this amazing and magnificent alliance.

The harmony of the Eastern and Western Churches.

The harmony of the Eastern and Western Empires, etc.

Because the situation in Europe has changed rapidly into a positive relationship.

The situation on the Anatolian front was literally crazy for the Christians.

In the first place, there was a big difference in the number of troops.

Even if the Sultanate of Rum, which had gathered nearby Islamic friends, made frequent surprise attacks using the terrain.

They could not easily defeat the Crusaders, who had united with the intention of driving Islam out of the Middle East altogether.

-Send the heretics to hell!

-Cavalry charge!

In the Crusader camp, everything was decided with these two words.

The morale of the Crusaders was so high that everything was achieved with these two words.

The true Crusades, in which the Eastern and Western Crusaders joined forces, were really strong.

Perhaps because they felt the ‘difference in power’.

The Sultanate of Rum could not come to its senses.

Decades ago, the Sultanate of Rum defended Anatolia against the great army of Manuel I.

But the current Sultanate of Rum did not show the strength of that time.

This is due to the lack of numbers and the difference in the morale of the army.

“I expected strong resistance from the Islamic army, but they are more trivial than I thought.”

The Crusaders fought fiercely.

Even conquered the Cilician Gate.

The Sultanate of Rum, surrounded on all sides.

They were once a powerful country that threatened the Eastern Roman Empire.

But now they are in a pitiful situation, about to be eaten by the Christian forces!

Now it’s time for the Crusaders to.

Conquer Iconium, the heart of the heretical country stuck like a thorn in Anatolia, the Sultanate of Rum.

But this happy situation for the Crusaders.

Did not last long.

Amidst the dust rising in the plains beyond.

A new army appeared.

A flag with a black background square.

Henry II, seeing that, muttered with a wrinkled face.

“That… flag is, the Caliph’s army?”

Over there.

The numerous armies that rushed to save the Sultanate of Rum were none other than the Sword of Ishmael, a transnational Islamic coalition.

-Allahu Akbar!

“Allahu Akbar!”

Calling the name of their god (Allah).

It was an unexpected dramatic situation.

Looking at the support troops that arrived sooner than expected,

Sultan Kilij Arslan II of the Sultanate of Rum shouted like this.

“Brothers of faith have come to save us!”

“Allahu Akbar!”

He cheered with a blood-stained curved sword.

“Tch, it’s the Sultanate of Rum that I’ve eaten all up…”

Henry II could not hide his disappointment.

Prince Henry and Duke Geoffrey of Brittany, the young king who was watching such a father from over there,

Raised the corners of their mouths coldly.

The ‘walk’ has ended so far. Now there will be a ‘battle’ suitable for the holy war.

Emperor Alexios, who was quietly watching the support troops, muttered to himself.

“As expected, the Islamic Empire’s support troops have come.”

General Konstefanos of the Eastern Roman Empire, who was assisting the Eastern Roman Emperor, said.

“Your Majesty, this is the real beginning from now on.”